People
OPM aide tapped as next federal CIO
- By Adam Mazmanian
- Nov 17, 2020
President Donald Trump announced the appointment of Basil Parker, currently chief of staff at the Office of Personnel Management, to serve as federal CIO.
The move comes with 63 days left of the Trump administration.
Parker comes to the job with IT experience and professional certifications. According to his LinkedIn page, he has served as a computer scientist at the Defense Information Systems Agency and held positions at multiple federal contractors including Booz Allen Hamilton, ASRC Federal and Technica Corporation.
Parker joined OPM in 2018 as a senior advisor on IT and cybersecurity workforce development and became chief of staff in March 2020.
Parker replaces Mike Rigas, the acting deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget and the acting director of OPM, in the CIO slot. Rigas had been holding the CIO title after Suzette Kent's resignation in July.
The federal CIO – formally the administrator of the office of Electronic Government – is appointed by the president but does not require Senate confirmation.
About the Author
Adam Mazmanian is executive editor of FCW.
Before joining the editing team, Mazmanian was an FCW staff writer covering Congress, government-wide technology policy and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Prior to joining FCW, Mazmanian was technology correspondent for National Journal and served in a variety of editorial roles at B2B news service SmartBrief. Mazmanian has contributed reviews and articles to the Washington Post, the Washington City Paper, Newsday, New York Press, Architect Magazine and other publications.
Click here for previous articles by Mazmanian. Connect with him on Twitter at @thisismaz.